"What was consistent (in the descriptions) was that his eyes were distinctive and they were relatively light in color," he said.

He said the witnesses tended to describe the perpetrator in terms of their own perspective, so that shorter witnesses described the robber as taller and taller witnesses described him as shorter, and witnesses with Spanish accents tended not to notice the robber's accent as distinctive while non-Spanish speakers identified the accent as sounding Hispanic. Witnesses said that if the robber heard Spanish being spoken, he would begin speaking Spanish.

The counts on which Lopez will answer to in this trial stem from alleged robberies of about 20 stores, including seven in Murrieta, three in Temecula, two in Hemet and one in Menifee.